


Roses and Cream

by SailorChibi



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir has excellent hearing, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Lovesquare, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Mild Angst, Plagg Makes a Mistake, Plagg is a Little Shit, Remember that when you're talking to yourself Plagg, Secret Identity Reveal, Tikk is going to murder him for that mistake, Tom Dupain does not get akumatized, and finally becoming a little less oblivious, and then reveals himself to her, basically how i think the episode should have gone, instead Chat flirts with Marinette, mostly just fluff and my lame attempts at comedy really, no akumas, oblivious idiots in love, spoilers for s03e02: were-dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 03:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17236136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: What would've happened if Adrien had overheard Plagg talking about how Ladybug and Marinette were the same girl?





	Roses and Cream

**Author's Note:**

> A few lines were lifted from the episode, though I tried not to copy it too closely.

"It should just make you happy after all. They're the same girl."

Adrien froze at the top of the stairs.

"But nooooo," Plagg went on, clearly thinking that Adrien couldn't hear him, "you're too oblivious to get that. You don't even know that Ladybug is head over heels for your civilian self. It's just my luck to get stuck with -" He was spinning around as he spoke, little paws waving in the air. He stopped speaking as soon as he spotted Adrien. A look of what could only be called stark horror crossed his face.

"What did you just say?" Adrien whispered.

"N-nothing," Plagg said hastily. "I said nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"No, you said that Marinette and Ladybug are the same person," Adrien said, pointing at his kwami. 

"No," Plagg said.

"Yes! Yes you did!"

"Um, no."

"Yes you did, and don't say you didn't!"

Plagg opened his mouth and then closed it. Finally, he said, sounding a little desperate, "If you keep this quiet, you won't have to buy me Camembert for a week."

"Maribug is Ladynette," Adrien said to himself.

"Two weeks!"

"She's Ladybug," he murmured again. A lot of puzzle pieces were clicking together in his mind. Marinette wasn't in love with him - or at least, she didn't _know_ she was in love with Chat. She'd probably jumped to the conclusion that he was going to accuse her of being Ladybug. It had sounded that way now that Adrien thought about it. A smarter person would've thought of that, rather than thinking that Marinette was a fan of Paris's superheroes. 

But it was _Marinette_. Sweet, clumsy, brave, kind Marinette, who always stood up to Chloé, who always had a nice word to say to everyone, and who could never be found during akuma attacks.

Adrien was a fucking moron.

"Stop!" Plagg screamed. "Get that dumb smile off your face!"

"I have to see her," Adrien said. "I have to tell her! I _am_ in love with her!"

"No you're not! You're not!"

"And she loves me," he whispered, awed. Well, she loved the Adrien side of him anyway. He was reasonably sure he could convince her to love the Chat side of him too, now that she would know they were one and the same.

"A month! That's my final offer!"

"What?" Adrien looked up at his kwami, irritated. "What are you talking about? I've got to see Marinette! I have a family dinner to get to!"

"Tikki's gonna kill me," Plagg moaned. 

"Plagg, claws out!"

\--

Marinette was dying. 

She stared at the dinner table as her papa waxed poetic about the future she and Chat were going to have. From the sound of it, in her papa's mind, he already had the two of them married and settling with kids. This was so embarrassing. Not for the first time, she cursed her complete inability to think whenever she was under pressure. If she'd just kept herself from panicking, this never would've happened! There had to be some excuse that wouldn't have led to her sitting beside Chat at the world's most awkward dinner.

Chat was a quiet presence beside her; his hand occasionally reached out to grab a morsel of food (which wasn't a bad thing, her partner was way too skinny) but other than that he wasn't doing anything. He'd come in, handed her a rose, and then kissed her on the cheek. He had points for keeping the kisses short and polite, but she did wonder why he'd said he had brought a rose because he knew they were her favorites. How on earth would he know that? In the handful of times she'd interacted with Chat as Marinette, flowers had never come up.

"Tell me, Chat Noir. Do you think this is a good situation for you to be in?" Papa asked. Chat choked.

"Actually, I think this is a dangerous situation. Chat can't date me. It could put me in danger," Marinette said triumphantly. Her papa couldn't argue with that, or so she thought.

"Now, now, Marinette. Chat Noir won't be a superhero forever. Once Hawkmoth is dealt with, he won't need to run around in a leather suit," Papa said.

Marinette recoiled slightly, then scowled. She wasn't giving up Tikki once Hawkmoth was gone, and she knew from previous conversations that Chat wasn't going to be giving up Plagg. But that wasn't something she could announce to her parents, no matter how tense Chat was getting beside her. 

She sat, fuming in silence, while Papa prattled on about Chat learning how to bake and taking over the bakery. She kept giving her maman desperate looks, and her maman kept trying to intervene. But it was pretty hard to stop Papa once he went off on a tangent. She wanted to curl up and die when he started talking about kittens and hamsters, because she wasn't sure whether he meant actual kittens or children and she was too mortified to ask just in case it was the latter.

"Maybe we should let Chat speak," Maman finally said, setting her hand on Papa's arm. 

"Good idea. I'm sure Chat is the type to change his mind really fast," Marinette said, narrowing her eyes at him. What a fickle kitty.

"Actually, this has been wonderful. You're all nice people, and this is the warmest I've felt for a long time," Chat said. "But really... even if she rejects me, my heart belongs to Ladybug." He smiled at the table, and there was something soft in his face that made Marinette's chest ache. It was hard to think that Chat was just being a flirt when there was so much tender affection in his eyes.

"What?!" Papa and Maman exclaimed together.

"And Marinette," Chat went on quickly, turning to look at her. "That's why I came here tonight. Even if I did love you, I wouldn't feel right acting on my feelings when someone very close to me is also in love with you."

"W-what?" Marinette sputtered. Where was this coming from?

Chat nodded. "Yes. Adrien Agreste. He told me so himself."

Marinette's world screeched to a halt. 

"Adrien?" Maman repeated, shooting a knowing look at Marinette.

"That's right. Knowing how he feels, I couldn't lay claim to your heart," Chat said dramatically, reaching for one of her hands. She let him take it, too stunned to react otherwise. "Besides, I do feel like it would be too dangerous for you right now. Your father is right in that I won't be Chat Noir forever, but I don't know how long it will take to deal with Hawkmoth. It could be years. I wouldn't feel right asking for you to wait for me, and I'd never forgive myself if Hawkmoth tried to hurt you to get to me. I hope you can understand."

"I - yes," Marinette said dazedly. 

"Thank you," Chat said. "I would’ve really hated to break your heart."

"No, of course not," Marinette said. Suddenly realizing her parents were still watching, and that her father in particular was frowning, she added, "I really do get it. I would never want to interfere with your duty. You and Ladybug need to focus on defeating Hawkmoth before anything else."

"You're an amazing girl, Marinette," Chat murmured, smiling at her. "But... I really should go. I only came here to tell you that."

"I'll see you out," Marinette said, quickly getting up. She escorted him to the door, hardly able to believe that such a disastrous night had taken a turn for the incredible. Not only had Chat given her a reasonable, easy out to the situation she'd gotten herself into, he'd told her that Adrien was in love with her! She wasn't wholly sure she believed the information about Adrien, but it was something she'd scream about into her pillow and then over analyze later.

At the door, Chat took her hand again and leaned in to kiss her cheek. He'd been so unknowingly kind tonight that Marinette allowed it to happen, even leaning in with the intention of kissing his cheek again.

And then he whispered, "You really do get yourself into some interesting situations, My Lady. If you wanted to date me so badly, all you had to do was ask." He drew back, grinning like the proverbial cat that got the cream, and squeezed her hand as he called out, "Thank you for having me, Monsieur and Madame. Your cooking was as impeccable as your baking."

What.

What?

WHAT?!

Marinette's mouth hung open as the door closed behind him.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Maman asked behind her. "You're not too upset?"

"Oh no. I'm not upset at all," Marinette said through gritted teeth. "Maman, Papa, please excuse me. I want to go call Alya and tell her what Chat said about Adrien." She managed, through an incredible feat of will power, not to stomp upstairs. But it was a near thing.

"Wait, Adrien?" Papa asked from downstairs, and Maman giggled in reply.

"That _goddamn furball_ ," Marinette seethed as soon as the door was shut. "Tikki, spots on!"

With a flash of red light, Ladybug leaped up onto her bed and out the window. She didn't have far to go to find her kitty. Chat was sitting on the lounge she always kept on her balcony, looking as comfortable as though he sat there all the time. He sat up fast when she burst out the window.

"It's true," he breathed, eyes round.

That gave Ladybug pause, and she suddenly realized she'd basically affirmed Chat's conclusion about her identity. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Start. Talking."

"Whoa, hey, that was your fault," Chat said quickly, holding his hands up. "You were the one who said you loved me."

"Because you were going to guess who I was!" Ladybug snapped. "And it didn't even work!" She clutched at her hair and groaned, realizing she'd tortured herself for nothing.

"Well, actually, it did. I didn't even guess who you were. I just thought you were a fan of Ladybug and Chat, like Alya." Chat shrugged. "Then you said you loved me. I wasted soooo much time trying to figure out how to turn you down gently. Then I overheard my kwami saying I should just be happy because you're the same person, and -"

"I'm gonna kill Plagg," Ladybug said, disgusted.

Chat shrugged. "From how he was carrying on, Tikki will do it for you." He watched her carefully, ready to spring away if she came at him.

"But then why didn't you just not come? Or tell me the truth when you came in?"

"And miss a chance to mess with you?" He grinned then, cat ears twitching.

Ladybug shot him a dirty look. "I ought to toss you over the side of this balcony."

He laughed. "Come on, My Lady. It wasn't that bad."

"It was horrible! I had to listen to Papa talking about us having kittens!" Ladybug folded her arms. "And what was up with that whole thing about Adrien, anyway? Are you really friends with him?" She struggled not to blush, her pulse quickening at the thought that maybe Chat hadn’t been lying.

"Yeah, about that..." Chat rubbed the back of his neck. "Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" she repeated.

"Claws in," Chat said unexpectedly. Green light swathed the balcony. Ladybug squinted, and had already taken in the face beneath the mask before she could stop herself.

"Adrien?!" she squeaked.

Before Chat - Adrien - could respond, Ladybug's transformation dissolved in a flash of red light. Tikki appeared, looking absolutely murderous.

"No, Tikki, wait -"

"This was all YOUR FAULT!"

"It was a mistake!" Plagg said, backing away.

"I warned you!"

"Tikki, I - Adrien, save me!" Plagg turned and fled, Tikki hot on his heels.

"Uh, shouldn't you do something?" Marinette asked, still staring at Adrien.

Adrien just shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets. "I have the feeling that's not the first time this has happened," he said. “Plagg loves to tell me that he’s hundreds of years older than me, so I’m sure he can handle this himself.”

"Right." Marinette sank slowly down onto the lounge, her head spinning. "I'm so overwhelmed right now I don't even know what to say."

"I know the feeling," Adrien said with a small smile, sitting down beside her. "This is weird, isn't it?"

"So weird," she agreed fervently. Apparently she hadn't been lying when she'd declared her love for Chat. She couldn't believe she finally knew who her partner was. 

They were quiet for a moment, and then Adrien cleared his throat. "Obviously I couldn't date you as Chat. Your parents would've figured out who I was too easily. But I was hoping... maybe... I could ask you out on a date as me?" He looked over at her, blushing. "If you want to, now that you know who I am."

"Yes!" Marinette said, maybe a little too loudly. "Yes, absolutely." 

Adrien grinned. "Yeah? Really?"

"Yeah," Marinette said. It was odd seeing Chat's mischevious grin on Adrien's face, but it also fit. She smiled back at him. 

"Adrieeeeeeeeeeeen, heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" Plagg wailed in the distance.

"Did you hear something?" Adrien asked with feigned innocence.

Marinette shook her head. "Nope, not a thing."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


End file.
